“It isn’t what he’s going to do,” said Cary angrily. “It’s what I’m⸺”
“You’re going to do nothing,” said the doctor calmly. “Vetter thinks he is lord of creation, which he isn’t, but he is the lord of Kuramonga. Also he has some little tin soldiers. You can’t do anything direct, and as for reporting him—Well, we’re civilians and foreigners to boot. The powers that be would pay absolutely no attention to us. We’d better leave it up to Buro Sitt.”
“But he can’t do anything,” protested Cary angrily, “and I can kick Vetter, anyhow.”
“Buro Sitt,” said the doctor, “can’t kill Vetter, because Vetter’s doubtless arranged that if he’s scragged Buro Sitt will get the blame. And he can’t kill the girl, because Vetter would trump up a rebellion on him if he did, and his record is bad. His villages would be wiped out at once. But⸺”
“Do you mean you’re going to stand by and watch?” demanded Cary furiously. “Let that beast Vetter⸺”
“I’m going to do what Buro Sitt wants me to do,” said the doctor. “I’m going to do nothing whatever but sit still and look on. And, of course, remember what Buro Sitt told us. I don’t like Vetter. He’s a paranoiac. And it’s always unhealthy to have even an ordinary swelled head. Anywhere, Cary,” he added kindly, “Anywhere at all. So I just wonder what Buro Sitt is going to do.”
Cary and I wrangled for an hour about it. The thing did look cold-blooded. A white man in a position where he could demand Buro Sitt’s daughter—which would cost him his honor as a man—on penalty of ravaging his people and destroying them—which would certainly compromise his honor as a king. A raja counts himself the equal of any king, anywhere. And Buro Sitt had led his people to disaster once before. He’d taken out a thousand men and brought back just fifty. He’d feel now as if he had to make up for that.
Then the doctor shut us up and turned in. Cary woke everybody up in the middle of the night to suggest that we kidnap the girl by arrangement and let the young chap who wanted to marry her know where to find her. The doctor threw a shoe at him and went back to sleep.
“Son,” he told Cary, “you forget two things. Buro Sitt did not come out here to ask us to lecture Vetter. He did have a reason for coming out here. And Vetter has a swelled head. Go to sleep.”
A minute later he was snoring.